Meetings
by krenya-alenak
Summary: The Power Rangers meet an enemy they cannot touch, and Dimitria sends them to seek aid. But can the Sisters help them? Will they?


"Eeyaa!"  
The Yellow Ranger slashed at her adversary, a man as black as night. The Ranger's foot passed through shadow. "It's no use!" she called.  
"She's right," the Green Ranger said. "We have to retreat."  
The Red Ranger nodded. "Back to the Power Center." Five flashes, and the Power Rangers vanished.  
"Run, then," the man called. "We will fight again soon, and I will win."  
  
Red, yellow, green, blue, and pink light came and left, and the Power Rangers stood in the Power Center. "So, how'd it go?" asked Alpha 6, their robotic helper and friend.  
"Not too well," the Red Ranger said. "Dimitria, we can't fight this guy. Whenever we touch him, he turns into shadow. We've fought him in broad daylight, so light won't help."  
"But when he attacks us, he's as hard as rock," the Pink Ranger said.  
Dimitria was silent for a minute. "It seems that Devatox has a new ally. I doubt even she could create such a monster."  
"But what can we do?" the Yellow Ranger asked.  
Dimitria turned to Alpha 6. "Let me see what I can find," he said, tapping commands into the computer. "Ah, here it is."  
"Oh, yes, we were told about this."  
"What?" the Blue Ranger asked.  
"Go to the State Forest. You will find help there in the form of a group called the Sisters."  
"I thought there wasn't anyone in the State Forest," the Pink Ranger said.  
"That is a common belief. You must go quickly now, before this new monster creates more havoc."  
Five flashes, and the Power Ranger vanished.  
  
The Power Rangers, now their everyday selves, appeared in the State Forest, a place few people went into. Invisible eyes watched as five lights flashed and vanished, leaving five high school students, one only about twelve years old. The eyes narrowed, and they turned to another hiding nearby in the trees. The first watcher held up a hand. 'Wait.' The watcher turned back to the clearing. 'Let us find out something about our visitors first.'  
  
The Rangers turned around, examining at the large clearing they had entered. It was wide, bordered by the forest on three sides and a lake on the fourth. "Great," Justin said. "Just how are we supposed to find these Sisters?"  
"Perhaps we should split up," Kat said. "Even though the State Forest is supposed to be very large," she added hesitantly.  
"300 acres," Adam said. "Especially big to six people."  
"How we're going to find these Sisters is beyond me," Tommy said. The Rangers started as a sound like laughter echoed through the clearing. It faded away.  
"We should start looking," Tanya said nervously.  
"You have no need to." A girl, close to the friends' age and overall heights, materialized only a few yards away from Tommy. She easily swung a staff of shining wood in a semi-circle. "The Sisters are here." Fourteen more women, also carrying staffs, stepped out of nothingness.  
"So you're the Sisters," Tanya said. The first girl nodded. "Just who are you?"  
"I am Keara, the High Sister." Keara motioned to the woman closest to her right. "This is my second, Katandra."  
Tommy stepped forward. "We were sent to find you. We need your help in fighting . . . a man."  
"Sent by whom?"  
"Our advisor. Dimitria."  
Keara shook her head. "I have never heard of this Dimitria." The Rangers faces fell, and Keara smiled gently. "Describe your situation, and we'll tell you if we can help."  
"We are the Power Ranger," Tommy said. Keara nodded. "Aren't you surprised?"  
"I . . . had a feeling. Pray continue."  
Tommy swallowed nervously, but Justin nodded encouragingly. Tommy continued. "Our newest enemy is a man who is solid when he attacks us, but he turns to shadow whenever we attack him."  
Keara was silent for a moment. "I can't be sure, but I think I know who - or what - this shadow man is." Her eyes turned towards the ground, and the Ranger watched her expectantly. Keara looked up. "I'll have to make sure before telling you my thoughts. If the shadow man attacks, just concentrate on us or our names." She touched her right hand to her forehead and brought her hand down in an arc. The other Sisters did the same, and all fifteen vanished.  
"Strange people," Kat commented.  
"I just hope they can help us," Adam said.  
  
"Beautifully done." Devatox turned to a dark-colored man. "Can you do that again?"  
"Certainly," the shadow man said, "but what about my payment?"  
"All in good time, my dear fellow, all in good time."  
"Here it is!" Elgar entered the room, holding up a brick. "Done and ready to go."  
"You'd better have gotten this right, Elgar," Devatox said.  
"Hey, if this doesn't work, it will be Blackie's fault, not mine."  
"Whatever." Devatox snatched away the brick and handed it to the shadow man. "As soon as the detonator is in place, push this button. A window will open, and the hour countdown will begin. Now go. I'm expecting this to work."  
The shadow man vanished, and Devatox turned to some fish. "Go with him. We'll make plenty of trouble for those Ranger." Unkind laughter echoed through the chamber as the fish vanished.  
  
The friends sipped on their drinks and watched the small talent show at Angel Grove's Health Bar. "There certainly are a lot of people here," Kat said.  
"Yeah." Tommy stopped as the pieces fell together in his mind. "Enough to create the perfect opportunity. Let's get ready for trouble."  
As the friends stood up to leave, they heard a wicked laugh behind them. The shadow man stood at the door. "Going somewhere?" He threw a pouch to the floor, and a cloud filled the room. People fled towards the exits, but the doors wouldn't open. As the crowd pressed against the far wall, the shadow man grinned, made a gesture, and vanished. The wall gave way, and people stumbled out into fresh air, leaving others unconscious on the floor. The powder was swept away by a fresh breeze. As the crowd started to scatter, fish moved in, blocking people's path.  
The shadow man appeared out of thin air at the head of the crowd. The civilians screamed and scattered. The friends, hidden in a corner in the Health Bar, morphed and charged out. A growing number of fish surrounded them, but the shadow man waved the fish back. He strode forward. "Ready to give up?"  
"We haven't even begun," Tommy said defiantly. He attacked, but he passed right through shadow. The fish closed in on them, easily outnumbering them. They battled ferociously, but the creatures kept coming.  
"Cover me!" Tanya called. The others surrounded her, and she called out for the Sisters. "Keara! Sisters!"  
The fighting stopped as everyone stared at an advancing wall of mist. The shadow man stepped forward, his eyes narrowed. Shadowy shapes appeared and emerged; a pack of wolves and wild cats, led by a black panther, its head level with the shadow man's chest. The jogging predators quickened to a run, and they pounced on the fish. The animals moved quickly; as soon as one fish vanished, its attacker turned on another. The panther leaped towards the shadow man. It jumped through blackness, and it landed and turned. The shadow man whirled, and the cat jumped, knocking him to the ground - a solid man. The shadow man threw the panther off, but it attacked again. It still contacted flesh, and its claws left red slashes. The shadow man grimaced and vanished, the fish following him.  
The animals bounded back into the mist, and it crept away. The animals were gone.  
  
"It seems the Sisters can do something," Justin said.  
"But now the shadow man will be ready for animals," Tommy said.  
"Why didn't the Sisters come? And how could the panther penetrate the shadow? Or whatever," Kat said. The others shrugged.  
"Dimitria?"  
The veiled woman answered. "Would you expose yourself?"  
"No," Tommy said.  
"Uh, guys, you better get going to Angel Grove. That lunatic is back in town," Alpha 6 said.  
"Right. It's morphing time!"  
  
The shadow man stood on the outdoor stage in the park, and by his foot lay a brick on the wooden stage. A guest speaker ran from the stage, and his audience scrambled for safety. The shadow man laughed as the Power Rangers appeared. "You can't give up, can you?" he said.  
"Can you?"  
"Never." He flipped off the stage, and the Red Ranger kicked out at him. Shadow. He chuckled. "Where's your cat, Power Rangers?"  
The Rangers retreated from the shadow man, and the fish attacked them. The shadow man watched, laughing insolently. The sun crept westward, and the fish kept coming.  
"We can't keep this up," the Blue Ranger panted.  
"Why isn't the shadow man attacking?" the Pink Ranger asked.  
"If he's with Devatox, he may have planted a bomb," the Green Ranger said.  
"Right. He's just buying time." The Red Ranger looked around. "The brick." He jumped, flipping over the mass of fish. He landed on the stage, but the shadow man jumped up and knocked him down. He lashed out, but once again the man was shadow.  
  
Ice blue eyes turned to her. She shook her head. "Not if they can take care of it themselves. Just be ready."  
  
"Can't you come up with anything better to do?" the shadow man said.  
"Not right now." They fought up and down the stage, but the shadow man stayed between the Ranger and the brick. The Ranger backed away and prepared for a jump over the shadow man. The dark man thrust out his hand, and the Ranger fell backward, hit by a wall of solid air. As he tumbled to the ground, he called out. "Sisters!"  
Lightning flashed on the wooden platform and all around the field. The fifteen sisters took up fighting stance, their staffs in hand, faces adorned with war paint. Keara stood before the shadow man. "Recognize me?" she asked.  
The man growled. "The cat!"  
"Well done." Keara struck out, but her staff ricocheted off an invisible shield. She tossed the staff away, and it vanished. She attacked.  
The Red Ranger crawled onto the stage and towards the brick as the Sister and the shadow man fought. The shadow man called to the fish. "Take prisoners!"  
Immediately the Sisters touched the civilians and vanished. They reappeared alone and took more with them as the other Rangers held the fish at bay. Keara flipped back off the stage to help with the exodus. The shadow man turned to see the Red Ranger moving painfully towards the brick, and he swept his hand towards the Ranger. A force rammed into him, and he rolled off the platform. "Now I know that brick's a bomb. But how to get past this shadow man?"  
The shadow man launched himself towards the Red Ranger, but a hand fell on the Ranger's shoulder. He felt an odd sensation like a miniature whirlwind, and the school gym replaced the park field. He turned to see Keara, but she looked past him expectantly. The shadow man appeared, and Keara held out her hand. Her staff appeared. "I would allow you to finish your own fight, Ranger, but you can not. His powers are too great. Well, too different."  
The shadow man charged, and Keara jumped into his path. They battled, their blows sometimes stopping an inch away from the opponent's body, sometimes penetrating the shield.  
Suddenly the shadow man broke away, landing in the center of the gym. The civilians raced away, but Keara calmly flipped up into the air after the shadow man. She landed, but the gym floor vanished beneath her. She somersaulted forward, and she rolled up onto her feet. The shadow man sneered at her, and he grew - only to half his height again. Yet his nails continued growing while his hands and feet thickened and grew hairy. His head grew out and flatter, and his legs and arms shifted, the elbows and knees moving up towards the body. A tail sprouted from the base of his spine. Orange and white tinged his fur. The giant tiger roared at Keara. She calmly responded, growing and morphing into a black panther of equal size.  
As if on signal, the other Sisters started moving the people out of the gym, and the Rangers ran to help. The wildcats circled and snarled. The tiger attacked, and the panther dodged and slashed. The predators clashed, ripping and tearing. They parted. The tiger reared up on its hindlegs and thickened, becoming a male grizzly. The panther changed into a female grizzly, and she growled. "They are mine, dark one."  
They did not fight long before the male backed away from the ferocious female. They morphed into hawks, wolves, foxes, elephants - and more creatures, unbeknownst to humans, even a red dragon and a green. Then the shadow man returned to his own form, and Keara did likewise. Suddenly, she fell through a new gap in the floor. Steel clapped over her. The shadow man grinned smugly, but his look turned to one of surprise. The floor behind him broke apart, and Keara jumped up out of the ground. The shadow man motioned; a blast of air caught Keara in midair and pushed her up towards the ceiling at a terrifying pace. She suddenly shifted into a peregrine falcon, and she struggled out of the wind. She tipped and dove towards the shadow man, but he only stood there, laughing. He raised his hands to gesture, but the falcon became a shaft of intense light and shot into him. It pulled out, and tendrils encircled him. He froze, temporarily paralyzed. The light left him, grew into a humanoid shape, and faded away, revealing Keara. "It is finished," she said. She motioned to the other Sisters, and they gathered around the shadow man. They all vanished except for Keara and her second, Katandra. The two young women turned to the Rangers.  
"Thank you," the Red Ranger said.  
Keara smiled. "I am sure that one day, we will need your help. Besides, we could do no less. There are more dark brethren, stronger, more cunning. If you ever need us, call." She saluted, her hand making an S- shape from her forehead, to her abdomen, and out. Katandra placed a hand on her shoulder, and she shook her head. Katandra frowned.  
"That was too much for you, Keara."  
Tommy looked at the High Sister. Keara sagged slightly. "It is a difficult transformation, but it happened too quickly. I didn't take the time to direct a separate shaft of light."  
"That's all it was? Light?" Tommy asked.  
Keara smiled. "And some special energy. We must leave now. Katandra." The women saluted again, and they vanished.  
"Wasn't there a bomb?" the Pink Ranger asked.  
The Rangers teleported to the park in time to see a fish grab the unexploded bomb and vanish with it. The Red Ranger sighed. "I wish we'd gotten it, but at least everyone's okay."  
"I think that girl, Keara, was right. This was just a start, Tommy," the Blue Ranger said.  
He nodded. "You're right, Justin. We'll just have to be ready." 


End file.
